Arapahoe Hunt - Blessing of the Hounds

Hunting Foxhounds and hunting terriers has gone hand in hand for centurys.
I was fortunate enough to have been a guest of the Opening Day of the Arapahoe Hunt. Foxhounds are very exciting to watch and they hunt coyotes in this part of the country. Each season starts with an old tradition of the Blessing of the Hounds by a Priest from the local Parish. He prays for the hounds, the riders and the quarry. This day was quite typical for the Rocky Mountain Region as it was quite cool with a constant mist in the air with overcast skies. I was lucky enough to get a ride with a lovely young woman named Dahlia who happened to be a world class "Bloody Mary creator" She and I along with another equally lovely young woman named Libby did the Hilltopping in her Suburban, watching the riders and hounds at full cry galloping across the countryside. Dahlia asked "Another Bloody Mary?" Who am I to refuse such a request... Of course
The hounds and riders covered a good deal of ground that day. One of the riders that had a hand held GPS said it was 18-1/2 miles. I was exhausted just thinking about it. Quite a nice day overall.